Techniques for reporting on or tracking ground vehicles

ABSTRACT

Ground vehicle reporting and tracking techniques are provided to track vehicles associated with a particular area (e.g., an airport, a military base, etc.). Ground vehicles may regularly report information about the vehicle to one or more control stations via corresponding communication links. The communication links may include, for example, an Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) link and a non-ADS-B link.

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/698,135, titled “AUGMENTED AIRCRAFT COMMUNICATION SYSTEM” toCarlos Maria Ilarregui, et al. filed on Feb. 1, 2010, which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety and is assigned to theassignee of the currently claimed subject matter.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

Subject matter disclosed herein relates to techniques for reporting onor tracking vehicles associated with a particular area. In someimplementations, reporting and tracking techniques are provided forground vehicles in an airport environment implementing AutomaticDependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) technology.

2. Information

It may be desirable to have current information regarding groundvehicles that are within and/or near a particular area. One type of areain which information may be desirable comprises an airport. For example,security concerns or airport operational issues may make it beneficialto know what type of vehicles may currently be in an airport, wherevehicles may be located, how fast they may be moving, what directionthey may be moving, who may own the vehicles, and/or other information.Techniques are needed for accurately tracking vehicles within a specificregion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Non-limiting and non-exhaustive implementations will be described withreference to the following figures, wherein like reference numeralsrefer to like parts throughout the various figures unless otherwisespecified.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example airport in accordance withan embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example communication scenarioin an airport in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example system arrangement inaccordance with an embodiment; and

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example method for use in a groundvehicle associated with an airport or similar region in accordance withan embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “anembodiment,” “certain embodiments,” or “various embodiments” means thata particular feature, structure, or characteristic described inconnection with a described embodiment may be included in at least oneembodiment of claimed subject matter. Thus, appearances of the phrase“in one example embodiment,” “in an example embodiment,” “in certainexample embodiments,” or “in various example embodiments” in variousplaces throughout this specification are not necessarily all referringto the same embodiment(s). Furthermore, particular features, structures,or characteristics may be combined in one or more embodiments.

In certain types of areas, it may be desirable to know what vehicles maycurrently be within an area. In an airport, for example, many differenttypes of vehicles may be present within boundaries of the airport at anyone time. For any number of reasons (e.g., security, logistics, businessconcerns, etc.), one or more parties associated with an airport may wantto keep track of identity or location of vehicles currently within theairport. The present disclosure relates to techniques that may be usedto track vehicles associated with a particular area. Although describedbelow in the context of an airport, it should be appreciated thatinventive features may also be utilized in other settings (e.g.,military bases, etc.).

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example airport 10 in accordancewith an embodiment. As shown, at a particular point in time, a number ofaircraft 12, 14 and a number of ground vehicles (GV 1, GV 2, GV 3, GV 4)16, 18, 20, 22 may be present within the boundaries of the airport 10.While a few aircraft 12, 14 and ground vehicles 16, 18, 20 are shown inFIG. 1 to simplify illustration, it should be appreciated that more mayexist within an airport and the claimed subject matter is not limited inthis regard. Ground vehicles 16, 18, 20, 22 may include, for example,one or more of: baggage vehicles, security vehicles, emergency vehicles,tow tractors, pushback tractors, aircraft refuelers, tank trucks, mobilegangways, mobile boarding ramps, airport busses, passenger vehicles,maintenance vehicles, de-icing vehicles, belt loaders, cateringvehicles, lavatory service vehicles, container loaders, containertransporters, water trucks, air starter vehicles, or any others. Airport10 may have a movement area 24 within its boundaries where security maybe viewed as a higher concern than other areas. The movement area 24 mayinclude a region where runways or taxiways 26 are situated. In somejurisdictions, a “movement area” of an airport may include a ramp (orskirt) region of an airport, while in other jurisdictions it may not.

Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) refers to asurveillance system for tracking aircraft for use in, for example, airtraffic control or other aviation-type functions. In this context, anaircraft equipped with an ADS-B transmitter (or “ADS-B Out”functionality) may broadcast position information or other informationthat may be received by ground stations or other aircraft that haveADS-B receivers (or “ADS-B In” functionality). ADS-B broadcasts may bemade repeatedly during operation of an ADS-B transmitter in somesituations. Received ADS-B information may be used by other aircraft orcontrollers to maintain a reasonably accurate, up-to-date status of anairspace in a particular region. Some countries may have adopted ordeployed ADS-B systems to manage airspace (e.g., Australia). The UnitedStates or other nations may also be implementing such systems. In theUnited States, a proposed ADS-B system may specify at least twodifferent link technologies that may be used for ABS-B transmissions: a1090 megahertz (MHz) Extended Squitter (1090 ES) and a 978 MHz UniversalAccess Transceiver (978 MHz UAT).

Referring back to FIG. 1, airport 10 may include an ADS-B controlstation 28 which may or may not be located at an air traffic controlcenter or control tower of airport 10. ADS-B control station 28 may bemanaged by, for example, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).ADS-B control station 28 may be tasked with, among other things,collecting ADS-B information transmitted by aircraft in or aroundairport 10 as well as applying a useable format (e.g., ADS-B reports,etc.). Received information may be transferred to, for example, airtraffic controllers. As shown in FIG. 1, in some example embodiments, anADS-B link augmentation system (ALAS) receiver 36 may be coupled toADS-B control station 28 to support a secondary communication link fromaircraft to ADS-B control station 28. While an ADS-B wireless linkbetween an aircraft and ADS-B control station 28 may utilizeline-of-sight communication, a secondary link such as ALAS mayaccommodate non-line-of-sight communication. In at least oneimplementation, cellular communication may be used as part of an ALAScommunication link, although other wireless (e.g., satellite, WiMax,etc.) or wired technologies may be used.

In certain embodiments, ADS-B technology may be used to track groundvehicles associated with an airport in addition to aircraft. Forexample, in some embodiments, ADS-B control station 28 of FIG. 1 maytrack locations or identities of ground vehicles associated with airport10. As stated previously, there are various reasons that airportpersonnel might want to know an identity or location of ground vehiclescurrently occupying an airport. Security comprises one possible reason.Airport security personnel might want to know, for example, whetherground vehicles currently in movement area 24 of airport 10 areauthorized to be there. Airport logistics may comprise another reasonfor tracking ground vehicles. For example, if an aircraft is to berefueled, airport personnel may want to know a current location of anavailable aircraft refueler vehicle. If an aircraft is approaching anairport for landing, airport personnel may want to know a location of abaggage vehicle to handle unloading of baggage from the aircraft afterlanding. As will be appreciated, other reasons for wanting to knowidentity or location of ground vehicles in an airport may also exist.

In some embodiments, a ground vehicle associated with an airport mayinclude an ADS-B transmitter (ADS-B Out) to sporadically, periodically,regularly, or continually transmit vehicle information to describecharacteristics of the vehicle. In one approach, for example, an ADS-Btransmitter may broadcast vehicle information a few seconds apart,although other update approaches including variable timing for an updatemay be used in other implementations. Vehicle information may include,for example, vehicle position information or vehicle identificationinformation. Vehicle identification information may include, forexample, a 24-bit International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)identification sequence or some other or additional form ofidentification. Other (or alternative) types of vehicle information mayalso be used. For example, in various implementations, one or more ofthe following may be included in transmitted ADS-B vehicle information:time or date information, ground speed information, heading information,navigation accuracy information, ADS-B version number information,surveillance integrity level information, or other information. An ADS-Btransmitter may include, or be coupled to, a position estimator toestimate current position of a vehicle. In one possible approach, aposition estimator may comprise a global positioning system (GPS)receiver. Other or additional types of position estimators may be usedin other embodiments (e.g., estimators that may use received signalstrength, angle of arrival, time of arrival, time difference of arrival,multipath power delay, trilateration, triangulation, time based ranging,and/or other techniques, including combinations of the above).

In addition to airport personnel, one or more other entities may desireinformation on location or identity of vehicles in an airport. Forexample, an airport may utilize one or more service provider companiesto provide specialized services for an airport. Service providercompanies may provide, for example, cargo services, freight services,maintenance services, security services, emergency services, fuelingservices, catering services, passenger assistance services, ticketingservices, hangar services, ground crew services, construction services,or other services, including combinations of services. Service providercompanies may desire information on a selected set of vehiclesassociated with a specialized service or, in some cases, all vehiclescurrently in an airport (e.g., for a security provider). Individualairlines may also desire information on some or all vehicles currentlyin an airport. In various embodiments, as illustrated in FIG. 1,entities are permitted to establish user control stations 30, 32, 34 inor around an airport (or similar locale) that are operative forcollecting or assembling vehicle information transmitted from vehiclesassociated with an airport 10. User control stations 30, 32, 34 may alsobe permitted to collect or assemble aircraft information. User controlstations 30, 32, 34 may collect information on vehicles or aircraftassociated with a specialized function or criteria or information on allvehicles. For example, a food service company may desire to trackcatering trucks and aircraft that are served thereby. A security companymay desire to track all vehicles within a movement area of an airport.In some implementations, non-ADS-B wireless transmitters within vehiclesassociated with an airport may be used to transmit vehicle informationto user control stations 30, 32, 34. Any of a variety of differentnon-ADS-B wireless communication technologies may be used. A primaryinterest of ADS-B control station 28 or an air traffic control center orcontrol tower is vehicle traffic in movement area 24 of airport 10.However, in some implementations, these centers may be provided with IPaddresses associated with some or all of the user control stations 30,32, 34.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example communication scenario40 that may exist within an airport in accordance with an embodiment. Asillustrated, an airport may include an FAA-managed ADS-B transceiver 42at an ADS-B control station. The airport may also include a number ofuser control stations 44, 46, 48, 50 associated with various entitieswithin the airport. For example, first user control station 44 may beassociated with a food service company, second user control station 46may be associated with an airport manager, third user control station 48may be associated with the FAA, and fourth user control station 50 maybe associated with a construction company. As will be appreciated, manyother or alternative user control stations may be used in otherimplementations. In addition, an airport may include a number of groundvehicles to provide various services therein. Some or all groundvehicles within an airport may include an ADS-B Multi-Link SurfaceSurveillance (AMLSS) transmitter to perform, among other things, vehicleinformation reporting functions. Referring to FIG. 2, for example, afirst AMLSS transmitter 52 may be located within a catering vehicle, asecond AMLSS transmitter 54 may be located within a snow plow, a thirdAMLSS transmitter 56 may be located within an airport maintenancevehicle, a fourth AMLSS transmitter 58 may be located within an FAAmaintenance vehicle, a fifth AMLSS transmitter 60 may be located withina construction vehicle, and so on.

In some embodiments, an AMLSS transmitter 52, 54, 56, 58, 60 may includeboth an ADS-B wireless transmitter and a non-ADS-B wireless transmitter.AMLSS transmitters 52, 54, 56, 58, 60 may use ADS-B transmitters totransmit vehicle information (via antennas 62 in FIG. 2) to an ADS-Btransceiver 42 within an ADS-B control station and a non-ADS-Btransmitters to transmit vehicle information (via antennas 64 in FIG. 2)to corresponding user control stations. Thus, a catering vehicle havingAMLSS transmitter 52 may transmit vehicle information to a user controlstation 44 associated with a food service company, a snow plow havingAMLSS transmitter 54 may transmit vehicle information to user controlstation 46 associated with an airport manager, and so on. Althoughillustrated as a direct wireless link in FIG. 2, it should beappreciated that one or more portions of a link between an AMLSStransmitter and a user control station may be wired.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example system arrangement 70in accordance with an embodiment. System arrangement 70 may occurwithin, for example, airport 10 of FIG. 1 or in other environments. Asshown in FIG. 3, system arrangement 70 may include: an AMLSS transmitter72 within a ground vehicle, a cellular base station 74 coupled to acellular network 76, a first user control station 78, and a second usercontrol station 80. As described previously, first and second usercontrol stations 78, 80 may be operative for collecting vehicleinformation transmitted from ground vehicles (and possibly aircraft)within an airport for use by personnel associated with an entity (e.g.,a service provider company, an airline, etc.) that owns or manages usercontrol stations 78, 80. First and second user control stations 78, 80may each be associated with a different entity within an airport. Forexample, in one example scenario, first user control station 78 may beassociated with a cargo service provider and second user control station80 may be associated with a security service provider.

AMLSS transmitter 72 may be capable of wirelessly transmitting vehicleinformation using both an ADS-B protocol and a non-ADS-B protocol. AMLSStransmitter 72 may communicate with user control stations 78, 80 using anon-ADS-B protocol. AMLSS transmitter 72 may communicate with anFAA-managed ADS-B control station using an ADS-B protocol. In theillustrated embodiment, AMLSS transmitter 72 uses cellular communicationto communicate with first and second user control stations 78, 80 viacellular base station 74 and cellular network 76. Cellular base station74 may be located within or near a corresponding airport. In at leastone embodiment, cellular network 76 may include digital Internetconnectivity for use in communicating with user control stations 78, 80,although the invention is not limited in this regard. Additional oralternative non-ADS-B protocols may be used in other embodiments. Aground vehicle that includes AMLSS transmitter 72 may comprise any typeof ground vehicle associated with a particular airport. As will bedescribed in further detail, in various embodiments, location basedconditions may be used to enable/disable transmission of ADS-B signalsand/or non-ADS-B signals by AMLSS transmitter 72.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, AMLSS transmitter 72 may include an ALAStransmitter 82, an ADS-B transmitter 84, a geographic switch 86, aposition estimator 88, and a termination 90. ADS-B transmitter 84assembles information about a ground vehicle (i.e., vehicle information)and sporadically, periodically, regularly, or continually broadcastssignals including vehicle information into a surrounding environment inaccordance with an ADS-B protocol. ALAS transmitter 82 may be operativefor sporadically, periodically, regularly, or continually transmittingvehicle information about a ground vehicle using one or more non-ADS-Bwireless protocols. Position estimator 88 may be operative for trackinga current position of a vehicle. Geographic switch 86 may be operativefor preventing broadcast of ADS-B signals under certain location-basedconditions. Geographic switch 86 may prevent broadcast of an ADS-Bsignal by, for example, directing a signal to termination 90 instead ofantenna 92. In at least one implementation, ALAS transmitter 82, ADS-Btransmitter 84, and position estimator 88 are housed within a common boxor package which may be sold as an individual product. Geographic switch86 and termination 90 may also be included in a box or package.

ADS-B transmitter 84 may include any type of wireless transmitter thatis authorized for use in an ADS-B system. This may include, for example,a 978 MHz UAT transmitter, a 1090 MHz Extended Squitter, a VHF Data LinkMode 4 (VDL-4) transmitter, or any other ADS-B approved transmitter.Different transmitter types may be approved in different jurisdictions.Position estimator 88 may include a GPS receiver or some other form ofestimator. In some embodiments, the position estimator 88 may be part ofthe ADS-B transmitter 84. In the illustrated embodiment, ALAStransmitter 82 may include a cellular transmitter that is capable ofcommunicating in a cellular communication system. Some examples ofcellular communication standards that may be supported by ALAStransmitter 82 in a cellular embodiment include, for example, GlobalSystem for Mobile Communication (GSM), General Packet Radio Service(GPRS), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Enhanced DataRates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), Long Term Evolution (LTE), CDMA2000,High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), or others, includingcombinations of standards. ALAS transmitter 82 may be coupled to anantenna 94 to facilitate wireless communication with cellular basestation 74. When vehicle data is to be transmitted to a particular usercontrol station, ALAS transmitter 82 may establish a connection to auser control station through base station 74 and cellular network 76. Alink between cellular network 76 and a user control station (e.g., usercontrol station 78) may be wired, wireless, or a combination of wiredand wireless. In one example embodiment, an Internet connection is usedbetween cellular network 76 and a user control station.

Referring again to FIG. 3, user control station 78 may include: an ALASreceiver 98, a server 100, and a plurality of display points 102, 104.ALAS receiver 98 may be operative for receiving signals includingvehicle information from vehicles or aircraft within an airport. Server100 may assemble vehicle information received by ALAS receiver 98 into auseable format and transfer this information to display points 102, 104for display to personnel associated with user control station 78. ALASreceiver 98 may include communication functionality appropriate tosupport a type of link being used to transmit signals to user controlstation 78. For example, if an Internet link is being used betweencellular network 76 and user control station 78, ALAS receiver 98 mayinclude a modem to support the communication. If a wireless link isused, ALAS receiver 98 may include a wireless receiver. In at least oneimplementation, ALAS receiver 98 and server 100 are housed within acommon box or package which may be sold as an individual product.

In some embodiments, communication technologies other than (or inaddition to) cellular communication may be used to transfer vehicleinformation through an ALAS link between an ALAS transmitter in avehicle and an ALAS receiver in a user control station. Somecommunication technologies that may be used include, for example, IEEE802.16 (WiMAX) wireless networking, satellite communication,point-to-point radio frequency links, secure Internet, and/or others. Inone implementation, for example, the ALAS link may use cellularcommunication as a primary communication type and satellitecommunication as a backup. In addition, while an initial portion of anALAS link may be wireless, subsequent portions of the link may utilize awired medium in some embodiments. An ALAS link may utilize line-of-sightcommunication or non-line-of-sight communication and may include in itspath, for example, one or more wireless relay nodes (stationary ormobile), base stations, ground stations, repeater stations, networkaccess points, satellite links, wired links, Internet links, networkgateways, routers, switches, public switched telephone network (PSTN)links, cellular links, or other nodes or links.

In certain scenarios, an ADS-B transmitter may only be permitted totransmit within a specific region. For example, with reference to FIG.1, in some implementations, ground vehicles 16, 18, 20, 22 (as well asgrounded aircraft) may only be permitted to transmit ADS-B signals whenlocated within movement area 24 of airport 10. This limitation may beadopted, for example, to reduce congestion in an ADS-B frequency rangeor for some other reason. In some jurisdictions, ADS-B standard(s) mayimpose location based limitations on ADS-B broadcasts. Geographic switch86 of FIG. 3 represents one technique for handling a location basedcondition placed on ADS-B transmission. Geographic switch 86 maymonitor, for example, position information generated by positionestimator 88. When the position information indicates that a groundvehicle is within a movement area of an airport, geographic switch 86may allow ADS-B signals from ADS-B transmitter 84 to pass through toantenna 92 for transmission. When the position information indicatesthat a ground vehicle is outside a movement area, on the other hand,geographic switch 86 may route ADS-B signals from ADS-B transmitter 84to termination 90, thereby preventing transmission. In at least oneembodiment, AMLSS transmitter 72 may include a storage medium having amap of movement area 24 of airport 10 stored therein. Geographic switch86 may compare a current position of a ground vehicle to a stored map todetermine whether to permit transmission. In at least one embodiment,map information is stored in a database format within geographic switch86.

In some implementations, more complex location based conditions may beapplied to ADS-B transmissions. For example, in one possibleimplementation, an ADS-B transmitter may be required to initiate ADS-Bbroadcasts within a specific time period (e.g., 1 second) after enteringa region (e.g., movement area 24). The ADS-B transmitter may also berequired to continue broadcasts for a certain minimum time duration(e.g., 15 seconds) after entering a region, regardless of whether or nota vehicle remains within the region for the full duration. Geographicswitch 86 may be adapted to apply more complex location based conditionson ADS-B transmission. Other techniques for limiting ADS-B transmissionbased on current vehicle position may alternatively be used.

As with ADS-B transmission, in certain embodiments, ALAS transmissionmay have location based limitations or conditions placed thereon. Forexample, in one approach, with reference to FIG. 1, an ALAS transmitterwithin a vehicle may be allowed to transmit vehicle information to auser control station when a vehicle is outside movement area 24, but notwhen it is inside area 24. One or more of user control stations 30, 32,34 may include, for example, an ADS-B receiver to detect ADS-Btransmissions from vehicles inside movement area 24. A user controlstation may, for example, combine vehicle information received by anADS-B receiver and vehicle information received by an ALAS receiver toobtain full vehicle information.

In another possible approach, an ALAS transmitter may be allowed totransmit vehicle information to a user control station when a vehicle isinside an outer boundary of an airport, but not when a vehicle isoutside an airport. In a similar approach, an ALAS transmitter may beallowed to transmit vehicle information to a user control station when avehicle is within a certain distance of an airport, but not when aground vehicle is beyond this distance. As will be appreciated, otheralternative location based conditions may be placed on ALAStransmissions in other implementations. In embodiments that placelocation based conditions on ALAS transmissions, an ALAS transmitter maybe configured to apply conditions based on position informationgenerated by a position estimator. Alternatively, another geographicswitch or similar functionality may be used to apply location basedconditions. In some embodiments, no location based limitations may beplaced on ALAS transmissions from a vehicle (i.e., an ALAS transmittermay transmit vehicle information regardless of location).

With reference to FIG. 3, in some embodiments, ALAS transmitter 82 mayoperate in a “passive” mode with respect to ADS-B transmitter 84. Thatis, ALAS transmitter 82 may not actively interact with ADS-B transmitter84 and may only passively sense signals generated by ADS-B transmitter84. In this manner, a standard ADS-B transmitter 84 may be used in AMLSStransmitter 72 (although in some embodiments, transmitter customizationmay be used). In a passive embodiment, ALAS transmitter 82 may, forexample, couple off a portion of an ADS-B signal generated by ADS-Btransmitter 84 (using, for example, a directional coupler) and convert aprotocol of the coupled signal to a non-ADS-B protocol (e.g., a cellularprotocol) for transmission. ALAS transmitter 82 may include a protocolconverter to perform protocol conversions. It should be appreciated thatALAS transmitter 82 does not, in all embodiments, receive vehicle datathat is already in an ADS-B transmission format. In some embodiments,for example, a baseband representation of vehicle data may be receivedby ALAS transmitter 82. ALAS transmitter 82 may convert basebandinformation to a non-ADS-B communication protocol for transmission.

In some embodiments, the vehicle information that is transmitted byADS-B transmitter 84 is also transmitted by ALAS transmitter 82(assuming both transmitters are permitted to transmit in a currentlocation). In other embodiments, a reduced amount of vehicle informationmay be transmitted by ALAS transmitter 82. In still other embodiments,additional information may be included in ALAS transmissions that is notincluded in ADS-B broadcasts. This additional information may include,for example, voice communications, alarm functions, vehicle telemetryinformation, or other information. In some implementations, an entityassociated with a particular user control station may be permitted toselect types of information that a user control station is to receive.An entity may identify, for example, types of vehicles that are to sendinformation to a user control station. Alternatively, an entity mayidentify particular vehicles (e.g., by vehicle ID) that are to sendinformation to a user control station. An entity may also be permittedto specify any additional information services that it desires (e.g.,voice communication, alarm functions, vehicle telemetry information,etc.).

In at least one implementation, one or more user control stationsassociated with an airport (e.g., user control station 78 in FIG. 3) maybe under FAA control. This user control station may be used, forexample, to provide information backup for surface ADS-B. An additionalwireless transceiver and antenna may be provided (e.g., between ALASreceiver 98 and server 100) for use in communicating backup informationto an ADS-B control station, air traffic control center, or controltower.

Although various structures are described herein as transmitters orreceivers, it should be appreciated that a full transceiver having bothtransmitter and receiver functionality may be used for any of thesestructures. In addition, although AMLSS transmitter 72 of FIG. 3 isdescribed in the context of a ground vehicle, it should be understoodthat an AMLSS transmitter may also be used in aircraft or othervehicles.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example method 120 for use in aground vehicle associated with an airport or similar region inaccordance with an embodiment. The ground vehicle may include both anADS-B transmitter and a non-ADS-B transmitter. A current position of aground vehicle may be continually tracked (block 122). Based on currentposition, it may be determined whether a first position relatedcondition exists (block 124). A first position related condition maycomprise, for example, a relationship between a current position of aground vehicle and a first ground region. For example, a first positionrelated condition may comprise a current position of a vehicle beinginside a first ground region. Other conditions may alternatively beused. If a first condition is satisfied (block 124-Y), then vehicleinformation may be broadcast using an ADS-B transmitter (block 126). Ifa first condition is not satisfied (block 124-N), then vehicleinformation may not be transmitted using an ADS-B transmitter (block128).

Based on current position, it may also be determined whether a secondposition related condition exists (block 130). A second position relatedcondition may also comprise, for example, a relationship between acurrent position of a vehicle and a first ground region. For example, asecond condition may comprise a current position of a vehicle beingoutside a first region. In another possible implementation, a secondcondition may comprise a current position of a vehicle being outside afirst region or inside a first region but proximate to a boundarythereof. Other conditions may alternatively be used. If a secondcondition is satisfied (block 130-Y), then vehicle information may betransmitted using a non-ADS-B transmitter (e.g., a cellular transmitter,a WiMax transmitter, a satellite transmitter, etc.) (block 132). If asecond condition is not satisfied (block 130-N), then vehicleinformation may not be transmitted using a non-ADS-B transmitter (block134). In some embodiments, there may not be a second position relatedcondition and vehicle information may be transmitted by a non-ADS-Btransmitter regardless of vehicle location. The transmission of anon-ADS-B transmitter may be directed to, for example, a user controlstation or similar destination. Method 120 may be repeated sporadically,periodically, regularly, or continually within a ground vehicle in someembodiments.

In some embodiments, a second position related condition may be arelationship between a current position of a vehicle and first andsecond ground regions. For example, a second condition may comprise acurrent position of a vehicle being outside a first region but inside asecond region. Referring back to FIG. 1, for example, a second conditionmay comprise a current position of a vehicle being outside movement area24, but inside an outer boundary of airport 10. In this scenario, groundvehicles that leave airport 10 may not report vehicle information usinga non-ADS-B transmitter. In a similar approach, a second condition maycomprise a current position of a vehicle being outside movement area 24,but inside or within a certain distance of airport 10. In thisembodiment, vehicles that leave airport 10 may report vehicleinformation using a non-ADS-B transmitter when outside airport 10, butonly when near airport 10. In some other embodiments, a second positionrelated condition may be a relationship between a current position of avehicle and a second ground region, but not a first ground region. Forexample, a second condition may comprise a current position of a vehiclebeing within an outer boundary of airport 10. Using this approach, avehicle may report vehicle information using a non-ADS-B transmitterwhen in airport 10, regardless of location, but may not report vehicleinformation using a non-ADS-B transmitter when outside airport 10.Similarly, a second condition may comprise a current position of avehicle being within airport 10 or within a certain distance of airport10. In this approach, a ground vehicle may report vehicle informationusing a non-ADS-B transmitter when in or near airport 10, but may notreport vehicle information using a non-ADS-B transmitter when fartherfrom airport 10.

The terms “and,” “or,” and “and/or” as used herein may include a varietyof meanings that also are expected to depend at least in part upon thecontext in which such terms are used. Typically, “or” is used toassociate a list, such as A, B, or C is intended to mean A, B, and C,here used in the inclusive sense, as well as A, B, or C, here used inthe exclusive sense. In addition, the term “one or more” as used hereinmay be used to describe any feature, structure, or characteristic in thesingular or may be used to describe a plurality or some othercombination of features, structures, or characteristics. Though, itshould be noted that this is merely an illustrative example and claimedsubject matter is not limited to this example.

Methodologies described herein may be implemented by various meansdepending, at least in part, on applications according to particularfeatures or examples. For example, such methodologies may be implementedin hardware, firmware, or combinations thereof, along with software. Ina hardware implementation, for example, a processing unit may beimplemented within one or more application specific integrated circuits(ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processingdevices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmablegate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, micro-controllers,microprocessors, electronic devices, other devices units designed toperform the functions described herein, or combinations thereof.

In the preceding detailed description, numerous specific details havebeen set forth to provide a thorough understanding of claimed subjectmatter. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatclaimed subject matter may be practiced without these specific details.In other instances, methods or apparatuses that would be known by one ofordinary skill have not been described in detail so as not to obscureclaimed subject matter.

Some portions of the preceding detailed description have been presentedin terms of logic, algorithms or symbolic representations of operationson binary states stored within a memory of a specific apparatus orspecial purpose computing device or platform. In the context of thisparticular specification, the term specific apparatus or the likeincludes a general purpose computer once it is programmed to performparticular functions pursuant to instructions from program software.Algorithmic descriptions or symbolic representations are examples oftechniques used by those of ordinary skill in the signal processing orrelated arts to convey the substance of their work to others skilled inthe art. An algorithm is here, and generally, is considered to be aself-consistent sequence of operations or similar signal processingleading to a desired result. In this context, operations or processinginvolve physical manipulation of physical quantities. Typically,although not necessarily, such quantities may take the form ofelectrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred,combined, compared or otherwise manipulated as electronic signalsrepresenting information. It has proven convenient at times, principallyfor reasons of common usage, to refer to such signals as bits, data,values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, numerals,information, or the like. It should be understood, however, that all ofthese or similar terms are to be associated with appropriate physicalquantities and are merely convenient labels.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, as apparent from the followingdiscussion, it is appreciated that throughout this specificationdiscussions utilizing terms such as “processing,” “computing,”“calculating,” “determining,” “establishing,” “obtaining,”“identifying,” “selecting,” “generating,” “initiating,” “acquiring” orthe like may refer to actions or processes of a specific apparatus, suchas a special purpose computer or a similar special purpose electroniccomputing device. In the context of this specification, therefore, aspecial purpose computer or a similar special purpose electroniccomputing device is capable of manipulating or transforming signals,typically represented as physical electronic or magnetic quantitieswithin memories, registers, or other information storage devices,transmission devices, or display devices of the special purpose computeror similar special purpose electronic computing device. In the contextof this particular patent application, the term “specific apparatus” mayinclude a general purpose computer once it is programmed to performparticular functions pursuant to instructions from program software.

In at least one implementation, inventive features are embodied asinstructions stored on a machine (or computer) readable storage medium.A machine (or computer) readable storage medium typically may benon-transitory or comprise a non-transitory device. In this context, anon-transitory storage medium may include a device that is tangible,meaning that the device has a concrete physical form, although thedevice may change its physical state. Thus, for example, non-transitoryrefers to a device remaining tangible despite this change in state. Amachine-readable (storage) medium may be non-transitory or comprise anon-transitory device.

While there has been illustrated and described what are presentlyconsidered to be example features, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that various other modifications may be made, andequivalents may be substituted, without departing from claimed subjectmatter. Additionally, many modifications may be made to adapt aparticular situation to the teachings of claimed subject matter withoutdeparting from the central concept described herein.

Therefore, it is intended that claimed subject matter not be limited tothe particular examples disclosed, but that such claimed subject mattermay also include all aspects falling within the scope of appendedclaims, and equivalents thereof.

1. An apparatus comprising: a position estimator to track a currentposition of a vehicle; a vehicle Automatic DependentSurveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) transmitter to wirelessly transmitvehicle information associated with the vehicle, wherein said vehicleADS-B transmitter is to disable said transmission of said vehicleinformation based at least in part on the current position of thevehicle with respect to a surface region; and an ADS-B link augmentationsystem (ALAS) transmitter to transmit said vehicle information to aremote user control station using cellular communication.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein: said ALAS transmitter transmits saidvehicle information to the remote user control station using cellularcommunication in response to the presence of a position relatedcondition.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein: said position relatedcondition includes said current position of the vehicle being outsidesaid surface region or inside a portion of said surface region proximateto a border thereof.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein: said vehicleinformation includes at least vehicle position information and vehicleidentification information.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein: saidposition estimator includes a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver.6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein: said surface region includes amovement area of an airport, wherein said apparatus includes a memorycontaining a transmit map of said movement area.
 7. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein: said vehicle ADS-B transmitter includes at least oneof a 978 megahertz (MHz) Universal Access Transceiver (UAT) or a 1090MHz Extended Squitter (1090ES).
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:said ALAS transmitter includes a coupler to couple a portion of an ADS-Bsignal generated by said vehicle ADS-B transmitter.
 9. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein: said ALAS transmitter includes a protocol converter toconvert a signal from an ADS-B protocol to a cellular protocol.
 10. Amachine-implemented method comprising: tracking a current position of avehicle; wirelessly transmitting vehicle information from the vehicleusing a first transmitter, said vehicle information includingcharacteristics of the vehicle; and wirelessly broadcasting vehicleinformation from the vehicle using a second transmitter if said currentposition of the vehicle satisfies a first condition with respect to asurface region, wherein said second transmitter includes an AutomaticDependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) transmitter.
 11. The method ofclaim 10, wherein: said first transmitter is a non-ADS-B transmitter.12. The method of claim 10, wherein: said first transmitter includes acellular transmitter.
 13. The method of claim 10, wherein: said surfaceregion includes a movement area of an airport.
 14. The method of claim10, wherein: said first condition includes said current position of thevehicle being within said surface region.
 15. The method of claim 10,wherein: said wirelessly transmitting vehicle information from thevehicle using said first transmitter includes wirelessly transmittingsaid vehicle information from the vehicle using said first transmitterif said current position of the vehicle satisfies a second condition,said second condition being different from said first condition.
 16. Themethod of claim 15, wherein: said second condition includes said currentposition of the vehicle being outside said surface region or inside aportion of the surface region proximate to a border thereof.
 17. Themethod of claim 15, wherein: said surface region is a first surfaceregion; and said second condition includes said current position of thevehicle being inside a second surface region, wherein said secondsurface region encompasses said first surface region.
 18. The method ofclaim 15, wherein: said surface region is a first surface region; andsaid second condition includes said current position of the vehiclebeing outside said first surface region and inside a second surfaceregion, wherein said second surface region encompasses said firstsurface region.
 19. The method of claim 10, wherein: said wirelesslytransmitting vehicle information from the vehicle using said firsttransmitter includes: wirelessly transmitting vehicle information fromthe vehicle using said first transmitter regardless of said currentposition of the vehicle.
 20. The method of claim 10, further comprising:coupling off a portion of an ADS-B signal from said ADS-B transmitter;and converting said coupled off signal from an ADS-B protocol to atransmission protocol of said first transmitter.
 21. The method of claim10, wherein: said wirelessly transmitting vehicle information from thevehicle using said first transmitter includes wirelessly transmittingsaid vehicle information from the vehicle to a remote user controlstation; and said wirelessly broadcasting vehicle information from thevehicle using a second transmitter includes transmitting said vehicleinformation from the vehicle to a remote ADS-B control station.
 22. Anapparatus comprising: an ADS-B link augmentation system (ALAS) receivercapable of receiving vehicle information from ALAS transmitters withinremote ground vehicles that are not ADS-B transmitters; and a server tocollect and assemble the received vehicle information into a useableformat for display at one or more display points.
 23. The apparatus ofclaim 22, wherein: said ALAS receiver includes a cellular receiver. 24.The apparatus of claim 22, wherein: said ALAS receiver includes a modem.25. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein: said ALAS receiver includes awireless receiver in accordance with a wireless networking standard. 26.The apparatus of claim 22, wherein: said ALAS receiver includes aprotocol converter to convert a signal received from a remote ALAStransmitter from a protocol used to communicate the signal to the ALASreceiver to a protocol used by an ADS-B receiver.
 27. An apparatuscomprising: a machine readable storage medium having stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing system to: track a currentposition of a vehicle; initiate a wireless transmission of vehicleinformation from the vehicle using a cellular protocol, said vehicleinformation including characteristics of the vehicle; and initiate awireless broadcast of vehicle information from the vehicle using anAutomatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) protocol in responseto said current position of the vehicle satisfying a first conditionwith respect to a surface region.
 28. The apparatus of claim 27,wherein: said initiation of said wireless transmission of vehicleinformation using said cellular protocol includes initiation of saidwireless transmission of vehicle information using said cellularprotocol if said current position of the vehicle satisfies a secondcondition, said second condition being different from said firstcondition.
 29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein: said second conditionincludes said current position of the vehicle being outside said surfaceregion.
 30. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein: said surface region is afirst surface region; and said second condition includes said currentposition of the vehicle being inside a second surface region, whereinsaid second surface region encompasses said first surface region. 31.The apparatus of claim 28, wherein: said surface region is a firstsurface region; and said second condition includes said current positionof the vehicle being outside said first surface region and inside asecond surface region, wherein said second surface region encompassessaid first surface region.
 32. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein: saidinitiation of said wireless transmission of vehicle information usingsaid cellular protocol includes: initiation of said wirelesstransmission of vehicle information using said cellular protocolregardless of said current position of the vehicle.
 33. The apparatus ofclaim 29, wherein said instructions are further executable to: acquire aportion of an ADS-B signal to be broadcast from the vehicle; and convertsaid acquired signal portion from said ADS-B protocol to said cellularprotocol.